DIRECTOR'S NOTES

Why do I love this play so much?

Because it’s masterful storytelling. Romulus Linney reminds us that we don’t need pageantry or technical wizardry for plays to live and breathe. The story is woven from historical events, folklore and fiction. It’s told through the simple essence of theatre: actors on a stage speaking words.

 

Because it takes me on a journey, far from traffic and busy signals into a world of almost elemental passions and events. I’m transported by the rhythms and sounds of Linney’s words, and brought back to myself because they ring true with what’s inside me. The longing for Home, on earth and on high; the joyousness of a family coming together; the sense of loss with time’s passing and the dissolution of that joy.

 

And finally, because we so often see Appalachia through stereotype and distorted clichés which demean more than celebrate the uniqueness of its culture. Here’s a writer who understands what most urban (and northern) writers have never understood – the soul of those people smoldering beneath their toil and poverty, fueled by their harsh, lonesome world. And the fierce dignity that drives them to sing.

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Nominated for 7 Helen Hayes Awards, including Outstanding Director and Outstanding Sound Design; Winner of 5 Awards, including Outstanding Resident Production